This invention relates to footwear, and relates in particular to sport shoes.
Sport shoes, such as jogging shoes, tennis shoes and the like, normally include uppers which are formed from relatively soft and extensible material such as thin fabric or thin, soft leather. An upper formed from such a soft material conforms closely to the contour of the foot without subjecting any particular area of the foot to excessive pressure. However, the soft material of such an upper is limited in its capacity to accurately and dependably transmit forces from the foot to the sole of the shoe. Also, such a soft upper is subject to distortion due to the forces applied to it by the laces of the shoe.
It has long been known in the art to provide socalled "lacing strips" and "bandages". The "lacing strips" are strips of relatively inextensible material arranged on either side of the tongue slot of the shoe and provided with holes to receive the laces. These lacing strips run generally forwardly and downwardly over the area of the shoe which overlies the instep of the foot.
The "bandages" are relatively thin, strap-like elongated elements formed from a relatively inextensible material such as a relatively thick, tough leather. Each such bandage extends generally rearwardly and downwardly from a lacing strip along a side of the upper to a rearward portion of the sole of the shoe. The bandages transmit the forces from the lacing strips to the sole of the shoe. Thus, forces exerted by the laces can be transmitted to the sole without relying on the relatively extensible material of the upper. Furthermore, forces applied by the foot to the area of the upper overlying the instep can also be transmitted along the bandages to the sole of the shoe, again without relying on the relatively extensible material of the upper.
However, this arrangement of lacing strips and bandages does not provide a complete solution to the problem of transmitting forces to the sole of a shoe having an upper formed from a relatively extensible material. The bandages described above are relatively narrow, and are joined to each lacing strip over only a small portion of the length of that lacing strip. Thus, certain areas of the lacing strips (for example the extreme forward ends of the lacing strips) will be remote from the junctures of the lacing strips with the bandages. The relatively extensible material of the upper may still be subjected to forces transmitted from these portions of the lacing strips. Thus, the material from the upper adjacent to the forwardmost ends of the lacing strips is often found to fatigue or stretch during the life of the shoe. When this occurs, the upper will no longer closely conform to the contour of the foot.
Further, the forces transmitted through the bandages are all concentrated at the relatively narrow junctures between the bandages and the lacing strips. Therefore, the areas of the instep which these junctures overly will be subjected to concentrated loadings with resultant discomfort to the wearer.
Accordingly, it is the principal object of the present invention to provide a shoe which incorporates a relatively extensible upper and which can therefore closely and comfortably conform to the foot, but which is capable of accurately and dependably transmitting forces exerted by the laces and by the foot to the sole of the shoe without the disadvantages of the aforementioned bandage and lacing strip arrangement.
The shoe of the present invention includes an upper formed from a first material and a lacing strip affixed to the upper so that it extends generally forwardly and downwardly and generally rearwardly and upwardly on an area of the upper which is adapted to overlie the instep of a foot received in the shoe. The shoe is provided with a bandage which includes an elongated portion and a connecting portion, remote from the elongated portion, extends laterally of the elongated portion and is affixed to the lacing strip. The elongated portion of the bandage extends generally downwardly and rearwardly from the connecting portion of the bandage to a second end, which is affixed to a rearward portion of the sole. The bandage is formed from a second material which is substantially less extensible than said first material.
The connecting portion of the bandage is preferably affixed to the lacing strip over a substantial portion of the length of the lacing strip. Therefore, the connecting portion can transmit forces applied to this portion of the lacing strip to the elongated portion, which can transmit them to the sole. Thus, forces applied to the lacing strip in the shoe of the present invention are not concentrated at any narrow juncture between lacing strip and bandage, and are less apt to be transmitted through the relatively extensible material of the upper.
These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be more readily apparent in view of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.